Creative Advertising

Creative Advertising MA

Build your capabilities as a strategically minded advertising creative.

Key details
Location
Falmouth Campus
Course duration
1 year
Attendance
Full-time

Course overview

On this dynamic MA course, you’ll enter an intensive environment replicating a full-service advertising agency, where you’ll develop the creativity and key skills to forge a successful advertising career. 

Working collaboratively in teams, you’ll create innovative advertising from your very first week, tackling briefs provided by our industry partners as well as specially designed tasks. While developing a keen understanding of conception and strategy, you’ll learn the skills essential to any creative advertising role. You’ll master the software that unlocks your design and image editing and become an expert in the development and presentation of progressive, attention-grabbing, multi-channel ideas. 

Study at Falmouth: 

  • Learn how to create engaging campaigns by focusing on planning, concepts and execution, guided by industry experts 
  • Have the opportunity to exhibit your work at the D&AD New Blood competition and meet key industry figures 
  • Have the chance to interact with top international advertising agencies during London Study Week, collaborating with leading creative directors, strategists, planners and former students now working in the sector 
  • Graduate equipped with a professional portfolio and contacts that could help you win the job you want 

Course details

Creative Advertising MA | Falmouth University

Working on projects based on real agency briefs, you’ll create engaging campaigns by focusing on planning, concepts and execution. On this Creative Advertising MA, we’ll explore the ethical, economic, psychological and socio-political impacts of your work, and build your online and social media skills.

You’ll exhibit your work at the D&AD New Blood exhibition in London, where you’ll have the chance to meet key industry figures, while our industry contacts provide opportunities for workshops and placements at top international agencies.

You'll choose to specialise in art direction or copywriting, as we strategically answer client briefs. If you focus on art direction, you'll learn vital layout and typography skills, and look into how photography, film, illustration and fine art apply to advertising. If you specialise in copywriting, you'll take on practical projects that will help you write in a clear, lively and visual style to stimulate your audience.

London Study Week will be your chance to build your knowledge and make valuable contacts as we visit major advertising agencies. We'll also visit film and production companies to learn more about how they work with agencies and fit into the creative process.

Modules

Experience and Digital Culture

What is the role of strategy and messaging in a marketing world transformed by digital technology? How do you get a message across multiple channels, in an engaging yet coherent way? As creatives, how do you generate ideas that harnass the potential of technologies and the ways in which people use them?

You will learn about and explore the impact of digital culture on brands' communication strategies and tactics, and vice versa. You will learn to develop messaging that will work across a symphony of media, assume novel forms, and those that experiment with different ways of interacting with audiences, and create new experiences.
Working collaboratively, you will use different tools and experiment with prototyping and/or testing content, objects, artefacts or products created from a range of digital tools. This will culminate into a portfolio of creative work and a written piece that demonstrates your exploration and research.

Introduction to Concept Creation

On this module you'll be introduced to the advertising industry and the agency landscape, and engage with the techniques and vocabularies used in the creation of advertising. This includes weekly discussions in which you'll learn to evaluate and critique ads.

You will begin with an introduction to the purest form of an idea in advertising – the print ad. You will also learn how to interpret a creative brief and create scamps for print advertising, working to briefs agreed with your tutors

Campaign Development

This module builds on the strategic thinking skills you have accrued to further explore creative concepts for integrated campaigns and problem-solving for different a range of communication objectives.

To help you prepare for and shape your unique portfolio and personal brand as an advertising professional, you will research and develop your own creative briefs under the guidance of your tutors. This includes training and support in industry-recognised software for multimedia content creation.

You will also apply your Master's in advertising skills to industry competitions and graduate shows such as D&AD New Blood and YCN.

Media Lab

What does the future hold for creative advertising in a communications industry dominated by metric power and digital sensibilities? How should creativity in adland evolve and what role can it play in helping to shape the future of advertising and the digital economy?

Building on what you learnt in Experiences and Digital Culture, this module takes a step back to cast a critical eye over key debates in the digital and attention economy. You will use your creative practice to speculate and envision the future of advertising

Behavioural Change for Good

Can creative advertising be a tool for making the world a better place? The module tackles this question by exploring the mind of the consumer: how are decisions made? what drives good or bad behaviours? Building on the strategic thinking skills you have accrued in Campaign Development, you will study the theories behind consumers' decision making alongside the psychological strategies that influence consumer behaviour, especially in the charity and third sector.

You will learn skills to research consumers in order to obtain insights that can be used to inform a purpose-driven campaign or any communication that will instigate behaviour change for good. Discussions will examine moral and ethical considerations relating to consumer research and the use of persuasive techniques

Working with a partner, you'll strengthen your communication and negotiation skills as you produce a portfolio of live projects from agencies and clients. You'll balance out these practical elements by researching and analysing advertising in different cultures, and learning IT skills in InDesign, Photoshop, imaging, file conversion, typography and web development.

You'll exhibit your work at the D&AD New Blood exhibition in London. This event is attended by senior advertising creatives looking to take on new recruits and so is an ideal networking opportunity.

Modules

Final Portfolio & Website

For any creative advertising graduate, the portfolio is their calling card and replaces the traditional 'CV' as the most important factor for getting their first job.

This module builds on the skills you have accumulated in all of your previous modules, to produce a distinctive portfolio that showcases your skills and creativity to prospective employers.

Your portfolio will include a mixture of self-initiated briefs and other briefs as agreed with your tutors.

As part of our process of continuous improvement, we routinely review course content to ensure that all our students benefit from a high-quality and rewarding academic experience. As such, there may be some changes made to your course which are not immediately reflected in the content displayed on our website. Any students affected will be informed of any changes made directly.

From module information to course aims and assessment criteria, discover the full course details

Two Falmouth University Creative Advertising students smiling at a laptop
Creative advertising students smiling at laptop

How you'll learn & be assessed

This is a one-year, full-time course delivered over 45 weeks and divided into three 15-week study blocks.

Working in small groups, you’ll learn in seminars, workshops, and through individual and team tutorials. Your projects and processes will mirror life in a full-service agency as you work in copywriter/art director pairs, as well as individually. Lectures from industry professionals will provide advertising and media insights, and you’ll find helpful research and project work information in our Virtual Learning Environment.

Assessment methods

  • Assessment at the end of each study block.
  • Combination of visual, verbal and written assignments.
  • Final, external assessment takes place in September.

Facilities

  • Full IT facilities
  • Course-specific computer suite
  • Large Mac suite where most of the IT lectures take place

Staff

You’ll learn from a variety of industry professionals with experience working for agencies like Y&R, Grey, DDB, and Saatchi & Saatchi, as well as for brands like VW, Audi, Dyson, BBC, Cadbury, Heinz, Sky, Jeep, and Honda.

Anthony Swede profile picture

Anthony Swede

Course Leader, MA Creative Advertising

With over twenty-five years' experience in advertising, across numerous disciplines and categories, ...

Anthony Swede

Dr Cui Su

Head of Advertising

After her boss at Young & Rubicam told her 'you're the best account handler I've ever had but go...

Dr Cui Su
Black and purple artwork of a man in a cap

Joseph Payne

Senior Technician, Software Skills Development

I joined Falmouth University in 2014 and worked primarily as a freelance digital designer before tha...

Joseph Payne
Joel

Joel Ferguson

Course Leader, Creative Advertising

After studying multimedia design and branding, Joel began his career by starting the agency, OTA Dur...

Joel Ferguson
Lucy Cokes profile picture

Lucy Cokes

Senior Lecturer, Creative Advertising

Lucy is a Senior Lecturer at Falmouth University, School of Communications. She has been working in ...

Lucy Cokes

Dr James Branch

Senior Lecturer, Design Strategy

James is a lecturer and researcher specialising in design education. He holds a doctorate from Lough...

Dr James Branch

Some members of staff only teach on specific modules, and your course might not feature every staff member who teaches on the course.

Careers

Potential career paths include art direction, copywriting and creative producing and directing. Our graduates have become industry award winners and worked at companies including Accenture Song, Fold7, Gousto, Mother and TBWA.

Creative Advertising graduate showreel

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Creative Advertising MA St Tropez 1

What is Creative Advertising?

22 May 2023

With today’s ad space oversaturated and fiercely competitive, how do brands cut above the noise an...

What is Creative Advertising?
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Reduce the ride

Graduate strikes gold at Cannes Lions 2022

21 July 2022

MA Creative Advertising graduate Isabel Snellen has achieved an early career highlight after her age...

Graduate strikes gold at Cannes Lions 2022
Headshot of Creative Advertising MA graduate Jo Taylor
Jo Taylor Creative Advertising MA Graduate

Graduate spotlight: KitKat, CoppaFeel & a Cannes Gold Lion

15 February 2022

Since graduating from Falmouth's Creative Advertising MA, Jo Taylor has worked for the likes of KitK...

Graduate spotlight: KitKat, CoppaFeel & a Cannes Gold Lion
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Santiago Losado

Graduate working as Creative Director for Mercedes-Benz

14 December 2021

From Falmouth University to Creative Director for Mercedes-Benz in Latin America, the career traject...

Graduate working as Creative Director for Mercedes-Benz
Barney Spiro
Barney Spiro

Graduate takes his skills overseas after Cannes Lions success

06 October 2021

Winning four D&AD Pencils, creating Cannes Lions Award-winning ads with Saatchi & Saatchi an...

Graduate takes his skills overseas after Cannes Lions success
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Falmouth graduates declare WarOnCovid

25 May 2021

As coronavirus began to take its toll on the UK, Creative Advertising graduates James Hodson and Jas...

Falmouth graduates declare WarOnCovid
Rosie May Robert Kitchen
Rosie May Robert Kitchen

Graduate Success: Rosie May

21 May 2021

Since graduating from Falmouth in 2017, Rosie May has created advertising campaigns for some of the ...

Graduate Success: Rosie May
Profile picture of Creative Advertising MA graduate James Sellick
James Sellick

Meet the Creative Advertising graduate who’s disrupting the industry

13 May 2021

Creative Advertising MA graduate James Sellick has carved out a truly unique&nbs...

Meet the Creative Advertising graduate who’s disrupting the industry
Ruby Norman-Curran

Industry Insight with Creative Advertising graduate

11 December 2018

Since graduating from the Creative Advertising MA in 2014, Ruby Norman-Curran has worked w...

Industry Insight with Creative Advertising graduate

How to apply

Have a question?

To find out more about this course, how you'll learn and what funding is available, get in touch with our friendly Course Advisors using our online form:

Ask us a question

Apply now

Ready to apply for postgraduate study? You can apply online by clicking the button below. 

Apply now

About applying to this course

After you apply you'll receive logins to the Falmouth Applicant Portal. You'll take on the creative brief below and upload your ideas to the portal.

We welcome applications from those with relevant equivalent Level 6 qualifications, or relevant equivalent experience, and a demonstrable interest in the subject.

We’ll also welcome your application if you have formal or 'certified' learning (such as training courses not run by universities or colleges) and learning from work experience or self-study. This is called Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL), and should have been gained within the last five years, and be equivalent to the learning outcomes of our minimum entry qualifications.

APL applicants using experience to apply should note there is an application fee for entry with advanced standing or with exemption from specific modules or credit.

If English isn’t your first language, you'll need to demonstrate English language skills that are sufficiently developed for successful completion of your studies. We accept a range of recognised English language qualifications that are equivalent to the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic minimum score of 6.5 overall, with a minimum of 6.0 in Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening.

International applicants who require a student visa to study in the UK must take a recognised language test that is approved and vouched for by the University. Our Applicant Services Team can help with any questions you may have about study visas or suitable language tests.

Fees, costs & funding

Tuition fees

£9,200 per year - full-time UK (£250 acceptance fee payable. This is deducted from tuition fees.)

£17,950 - full-time EU/international (£500-£2,500 acceptance fee payable depending upon your status. This is deducted from tuition fees)

£9,200 per year - full-time UK (£250 acceptance fee payable. This is deducted from tuition fees.)

£17,950 - full-time EU/international (£500-£2,500 acceptance fee payable depending upon your status. This is deducted from tuition fees)

Tuition fees for September 2026 will be confirmed in summer 2025.

Tuition fees are set annually and are subject to review each year. The University may therefore raise tuition fees in the second or subsequent years of a course, in line with inflation and/or the maximum permitted by law or Government policy. Students will be notified of any changes as soon as possible. 

The figures above don't include accommodation and living costs

Typical course costs

  • £170 - Pencils, marker pens and layout pads
  • To engage in the digital learning activity, although you will be able to access IT suites on campus, you will benefit from a laptop to access the platforms and tools we use.
  • £15-£100 - Optional competition entries
  • £500 - Essential study trips
  • Optional study trips where possible with variable costs

If you need to bring equipment or materials with you, these will be outlined in your Welcome Letter.

Ask a student

What better way to find out about life at Falmouth University than by asking our current students?

From course details and academic support, to the social scene and settling in, our students are ready and available to answer any questions you might have. Simply set up your account, send them a question and they'll get back to you within 24 hours.

Speak to an advisor

Do you have questions about the course or studying at Falmouth? Fill in our simple online form and we'll get in touch to support your application journey.

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